The Journey to Hardby

About the Saga

After fleeing to Greyhawk from Obsidian Bay and crawling around Castle Greyhawk for a few days, the Blackrazors decide to take on a new challenge: the fabled Star Cairns. Their journey begins with a trip to Hardby.

Note: This adventure is based in part on the TSR Module Star Cairns Part 1: the Lost Tombs by Sean Reynolds. Many thanks to Sean for this very excellent adventure. And now...

Timeframe

• Greyhawk Date: Patchwall 15, CY 587
• Real World Date: 10/05/1998
• Read other Blackrazor Guild Sagas

Cast of Characters

• Gaiseric, mundane rogue
• Kalib Ironfist, cleric of Trithereon
• Tanevir Calywyn, master of the Blackrazor Guild
• D'klar Ironforge, dwarven cleric/warrior

What Has Come Before

The Blackrazors had gone into Castle Greyhawk dreaming of valor and treasure.

They left with barely enough gold to cover their expenses and the corpse of a paladin of Heironeous. The opposition hadn’t been too fierce for their often-splintered band of adventurers. The orcs and their goblinoid allies tried to drive off the Blackrazors, but their efforts resulted in little more than piles of corpses. The adventurers learned of some sort of conflict between the forces of the orge demigod Vaprak and the god of death, Nerull, (detailed in the TSR module Greyhawk Ruins) but were unable to learn of the details of the war. They were tempted by the mentions of Nerull – the followers of whom they’d fought against time and again -- but couldn’t find the core of the dungeon’s organization.

During their time in the dungeon they encountered a paladin of Heironeous, who decided to team up with their band during their time in the dungeon. Like many of those who have signed on with the Blackrazors, the paladin didn’t live very long. After battling a group of orges, he fell in battle. The exhausted and annoyed Blackrazors decided to pull back from the dungeon’s third level and withdraw to Greyhawk, where they could rest, train, and look for a more fulfilling adventure.

• Read the previous saga

The Saga

15th of Patchwall, CY 587

The starry rumors

Once back in Greyhawk – on the 15th of Patchwall, CY 587 -- the Blackrazors inducted the thief Gaiseric – who they had met in Castle Greyhawk – into their guild. After his inevitable defeat at the hands of master-of-arms Gef Ironhold, the Greyhawk native paid his 50 gold piece. Soon after the ceremony, Kalib Ironfist took Gaiseric aside and informed him of the guilds rules when it comes to thieving. The cleric of Trithereon spoke low and ominously. "Look Scrappy, here’s the rules. Don’t steal from the party, don’t hold out from party and don’t steal from our friends or employers. Aside from that, you can do whatever you want."

As the thief adapted to Blackrazor life – and his new nickname – the others in the guild trained. Guildmaster Tanevir Calywyn advanced in ability and gained an owl familiar named Nightwing. Meanwhile, the dwarven warrior-cleric D’klar grew in faith and standing with his god, Clangeddin Silverbeard. As they trained and rested, the Blackrazors became aware of a huge surge of rumors surrounding the lost tombs known as the Star Cairns.

They heard that an iron man was seen stumbling around the hills southeast of the city slaying enemies with a poisonous breath. They also heard tales of a beholder lurking in the same hills, along with a group of bandits raiding caravans passing through the area.

Intrigued, they decided to investigate.

Gaiseric spoke to one of his old Thieves’ Guild contacts, Tarn (a 5th level thief) who told him that the bandits are cutting into guilds trade. "They say the bandits have a blue sword tattooed on their left arms, and that their leader is undefeated in battle. I doubt that --" he said downing his glass of wine and then motioning to the bartender to refill it. "-- he’s probably pretty strong." When "Scrappy" mentioned the Star Cairns, the old thief scoffed, saying "more people have died looking for the Star Cairns then are alive in Greyhawk today." He brushed off mention of iron man and beholders, saying they were little more than rumors.

Meanwhile the elven mage-ranger Tanevir talked to Madison (6th level) a pyromancer who’d been interested in Malphas the year before. She was intrigued by the new Blackrazor guildmaster, having heard that he was a friend of Malphas. She’d never believed the stories that the wily elf had murdered the two guards – or at least, had been responsible for his actions. She was relieved to hear that the elf had returned to the city and was now serving a substantially reduced prison sentence. From Madison, Tanevir was able to learn that the guild had a bounty out for the behold – 3,000 gp dead, 10,000 gp alive. She also said that if an iron golem was released by fools exploring the star cairns.

D’klar and Kalib went down to talk to the mercenaries and the city’s guild. There they learned that a merchant named Lady Selra was offering a 10 gp-per-head bounty on the bandits operating between Hardby and Storm Keep.

With this knowledge in hand, the adventurers booked passage on a river barge captained by "Squirry" and heading down the Selantin River to Hardby on the 25th of Ready’reat.

Many headed horrors

The trip south was not uneventful.

As darkness tugged at the sky, four serpentine necks broke the surface of the river and tore one of the barge’s crewmen from his post. The Blackrazors snapped to attention as the heads slipped back into the water. As they braced themselves, the heads attacked again, splitting attacks between D’klar and Kalib and then the rest of the adventurers. Meanwhile the barge’s crew – accompanied by Tanevir -- scrambled to the ship’s central wooden tower and readied their bows. Someone screamed out "hydra" as Kalib struck at one of the heads, slicing it from its neck. Tanevir struck out with a lightning bolt and obliterated three of the heads while D’klar managed to slice another head.

And then, with six heads floating in the water, the creature continued to lash out … as though it had lost none of them. Horror and recognition crawled across Kalib’s face as he remembered a story he’d heard once. A story about a hydra which regenerated each heads as rapidly as they were sliced from its body, growing back two for every one that was cut away.

Suddenly, Kalib had a bad feeling. A very bad feeling.

So he jumped into the river.

Into the River

Seconds before he jumped into the river, the cleric had pulled out one of his continual light torches and gripped it between his teeth. Now that he was in the river though, he was beginning to think this wasn’t his brightest idea. He’d planned to invoke Evard’s Black Tentacles from his gloves of spell snaring, but the bottom of the river was too far away – the spell would never be able to grab the creature. But while his spell wouldn’t work, he did succeed in getting the creature’s attention.

The creature’s heads swarmed after the cleric, attacking him in rapid succession. He through magic missiles at it as Tanevir struck it with a lance of disruption. But the creature didn’t stop, and Kalib couldn’t keep taking the punishment from its unceasing attacks. He cast levitate from his glove to escape the creature’s attacks.

He succeeded, dripping blood as he hovered above the water. Tanevir blasted the creature with another lance, but couldn’t slay it. Instead the creature withdrew from the battle, swimming downriver in search of less dangerous prey.

The wake of the attack left the barge taking on water from the holes the hydra had carved into the bottom of the ship during its attack. The adventurers managed to plug the holes with some of the three pounds of bees wax that Tanevir was carrying. They managed to stem the flow of water enough for the barge to limp into Hardby. Once there, Kalib gave Captain Squirry 50 gp for repairs and a keg of good ale for good cheer.

The captain was amazed.

"What’s your name again?" Squirry said.

"Kalib of the Blackrazor Guild" the cleric replied.

"Blackrazors … hmmm … not the infamous Blackrazor Guild! Didn’t one of your guys…" Squirry said.

"Yeah he’s doing time," Tanevir said.

"Well you all seem nice enough and I guess you can’t be ‘countable for the actions of mates," the captain said.

Kalib just smiled.

The Streets of Hardby

Once in the city, the Blackrazors decided to stay at one of the town’s nicer inns – the Cracked Skull Tavarn owned by the former mercenary-adventurer known simply at Yosh.

Kalib approached the owner as he tended bar and arranged lodging and ordered drinks for his friends. As Yosh poured wine into four glasses, Kalib casually asked him about the bandits working the hills to the southwest.

Yosh paused, and then said "Well, there’s plenty of bandits out there, always are. But lately people have been say’n a new group that tatooed ‘emselves with blue swords have been causing trouble. Word has it they were located near the eastern most of the four Star Cairns." Kalib looked confused for a moment and then asked exactly where the cairn was located. Yosh called to an apprentice to tend to the other customers and then drew a quick map on a piece of parchment showing the four cairns … and then began speculating on the location of the fifth. "Some say it should be right here," he said, pointing to the most logical place on the northern portion of the map, "but others say there’s more than five, and that the cairns actually form a six pointed star, but I doubt that," he said, and then placed the paper back under the bar counter.

The two men then began trading tall talls – Yosh of the adventurers who have lived and died in the hills, Kalib of the Blackrazors various exploits. By midnight they’d attacked a small crowd of onlookers; by 2 a.m. they decided to call it a night.

A cyclopian encounter

On the morning of the 26th of Ready’reat CY 587, the Blackrazors got up with the thrill of adventure tickling their brains. They had a big breakfast of eggs and ham served up by Yosh, and then set out on the road for Storm Keep.

A day and a half out – on the 27th – the group encountered a band of paranoid merchants and their mercenary guards who made ominous references to the bandits operating southeast of Storm Keep. Emboldened, the Blackrazors continued onward. That night, as Tanevir stood guard, he sent his familiar – Nightwing – out to overfly the area.

His decision was a good one – Nightwing reported back that a group of giant one-eyes was camping many flights to the east. Tanevir woke D’klar, who promptly woke everyone else in the camp and began demanding that they smite the evil cyclopian creatures immediately.

Kalib balked, saying night wasn’t the time to attack and that tomorrow would be better.

D’klar muttered several dwarven war curses under his breath and retired to his room where he began singing battle hymns in preparation for the next day’s fight.

The others didn’t appreciate his singing.

Tanevir, acting as a mediator, tried to talk since to him while casting a sound bubble spell to contain his singing. "The others are going deaf," the elf told his determined friend.

"Well if they listened, they wouldn’t be going deaf, now would they?" D’klar growled, taking several moments to catch his breath before launching into his next series of versus.

Outside the bubble, the others finally returned to sleep. Scrappy, concerned that the bubble might last, took the additional precaution of stuffing his ears with bee’s wax before falling asleep.

Finally, on the 28th of Ready’reat, the Blackrazors advanced on – and killed – the three cyclopes that Nightwing had spied on the night before. D’klar sang a mighty battle him as the creatures fell before the combined might of his battle axe, Kalib’s sword and Tanevir’s spells. Scrappy, deciding that hiding was better than valor, sat on a hill and watched the confrontation from afar.

Experience & Loot

• No experience and/or loot is available for this saga.